Spy Club: Chanukah Party

On Sunday 13th December SPY Club had their annual end-of-year Chanukah party/ Bring-a-Friend party. This is always extremely fun and enjoyable with a variety of games and food; there was fish finger wraps and, of course latkas!

The games included making edible Chanukiah's out of chocolate fingers, marshmallow fluff, wafers, sponge fingers and smarties. Other games included a darts tournament and a range of games with balloons which ended in a competition to see which team could burst the balloons first by sitting on them. 

The whole evening was a great success and everyone looks forward to future meetings in the coming year. 

SPY is aimed at school years 5 and over. There is a small entrance fee which helps to cover the food and to provide games and activities. It is a great way for young people to meet and have fun together from all over the community. 

What's Going on?

What's going on between 28th - 3rd January?

Monday        28th      7:30 p.m      Bridge

Friday          1st        8:15 p.m      Erev Shabbat Evening Service

Saturday      2nd      10:00 a.m     Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Saturday      2nd      11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service

What's Going On?

What's going on between 21st - 27th December?

Monday        21st      7:30 p.m      Bridge

Monday        21st      7:30 p.m      Table Tennis

Friday          25th     8:15 p.m      Erev Shabbat Evening Service

Saturday     26th    11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service

Book Club

The SPS book club has been running for about 10 years, during which time we have read and discussed a variety of different genres. We meet about once every 4 to 6 weeks with members taking it in turn to host the evening; the host provides refreshments and offers discussion questions about the book which can lead to some interesting differences of views.  

Overall our meetings are good fun.  All we ask is for a £1 donation which is given to the host to cover the cost of food.

Some of our books are provided by Barnet Library, a service they offer to book clubs; others we order from our own library, buy or even download onto Kindles.

Our last meeting:

At our November meeting we discussed The Farm by Tom Rob Smith.  

Opinions varied although the majority of us found it a page turner, but we did agree that there were quite a lot of loose ends. Our discussions, as usual, took us in different directions including mental illness,  flats being built in Finchley and libraries possibly closing in Barnet.

Future meetings:

Our next meeting will be on 18th January when we will discuss One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore.

We decided that our February meeting will be on Wednesday 17th, and we will discuss Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain.

Due to various holidays – school and religious -  we decided to ignore March and go straight to April and agreed on 11th when we will discuss The Daughter's Secret by Eva Holland. 

New readers are always welcome and anyone wishing to join our group can contact the Synagogue office for more information. 

What's going on?

What's going on between 14th - 20th December?

Monday        14th      7:30 p.m       Bridge

Monday        14th      7:30 p.m       Table Tennis


Tuesday       15th      7:30 p.m       TECS film night 

Tuesday       15th      8:00 p.m       Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday     17th      10:00 a.m      Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          18th     8:15 p.m        Erev Shabbat Evening Service

Saturday     19th      9:30 a.m        Religion School 

Saturday     19th     11:00 a.m       Shabbat Morning Service

What's going on?

What's going on between 7th - 13th December?

Monday        7th      7:30 p.m      Bridge

Monday        7th      7:30 p.m      Table Tennis


Tuesday       8th      7:30 p.m      Rummikub 

Tuesday       8th      8:00 p.m     Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday     10th    10:00 a.m    Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          11th     6:30 p.m      Chunukah Chavarah

Saturday     12th     9:30 a.m      Religion School 

Saturday     12th    10:00 a.m     Tots Service 

Saturday     12th    11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service


Sunday       13th     6:00 p.m      SPY Club (Chanukah party - bring a friend)

Religion School

Every Saturday morning from 9:30 till 12:30 there is a Religion School for all children aged 5 to 16. 

The children learn Hebrew as well as understanding Judaism including the Jewish history and laws. The aim of the syllabus is for all the children to gain knowledge of what it means to be a Liberal Jew, the skills to follow a Liberal Jewish lifestyle and an appreciation of out Jewish values and heritage. The school's syllabus covers The Bible and Jewish literature, customs and traditions, festivals, Shabbat, life cycle, history and Hebrew. 

Throughout the school year there are times when the whole school comes together, typically on festivals where there are themed activities for the whole school. On Purim everyone dresses up and some of the activities include acting, singing and crafts. On Pesach a 'Cheder Seder' is held giving the children the opportunity to experience a Seder night as well as practicing for their own. Not only on festivals but also other occasions such as Mitzvah Day where the children help out those in the community.

From the youngest class the children begin to learn the Hebrew letters, prayers and about the festivals. We are introducing the opportunity to develop a basic knowledge of spoken, modern Hebrew that the students will be able to use when they visit Israel. 

After their Bar/Bat Mitzvah there is the Kabbalat Torah class where they go into more depth about Jewish traditions and ethics. This gives the children a deeper understanding of Judaism and a chance to express their own views. This class lasts two years and at the end the students have the opportunity to take the GCSE exam based on what they have learnt in the two years. 

Once the children have left Religion School they are given the opportunity to stay on as a helper and eventually become a teacher. This gives them a chance to continue helping within the community as well as developing their knowledge further.

Each week an assembly is conducted (Tefillah) where the whole school comes together with prayer and ethical discussions based on Jewish traditions.